Look! It's a Writer Monkey!
by RipperShipper
Summary: Castle and Beckett's daughter has a very...special...Father's Day present for her dad. Fluff. Pure, unadulterated fluff.


Disclaimer: If I owned them, I'd be too excited about Season 5 to keep a secret and EVERYONE would know what's going to happen.

Author's Note: This takes place in the same universe as "My Grass Isn't Greener, It's Blue", but it's not necessary to read that one to understand this one. You should read it anyway though! :) Timeline puts this about four years after that story (season 8).

Summary: Castle and Beckett's daughter has a very...special...Father's Day present for her dad. Fluff. Pure, unadulterated fluff.

* * *

Kate Beckett-Castle beamed as her husband swept into the 12th precinct, their daughter happily giggling in his arms. They'd been married for a little under two years and, despite a few moments of natural personality clashes, they were blissfully happy.

A happy babble caused Kate to laugh as she smiled at three-year-old Nicole Johanna Castle. Castle was sure she was going to shoot him when he suggested they name their child after Kate's alter-ego, but she was surprisingly open to the idea. Jordan Shaw once told her years earlier that Nikki Heat was part her and part Castle and because of that, she couldn't help but fall in love with the name – provided they never called their kid Nikki. Everyone seemed agreeable to this, and from then on, the little bundle was affectionately known as 'Nik'.

"Hey Mami!" Esposito called. She had other nicknames as well, of course.

"Po!" Nicole cried happily. Castle smirked at her shortening of the detective's name. Esposito didn't mind though. He loved it when she came to work. The team was her family as much as it was Castle and Beckett's and they adored the girl. He jumped up and Castle handed her over as Esposito swung her up in the air. Nicole let out a gleeful squeal at his antics.

"Did you have fun at Auntie Lanie's last night?" Esposito asked. Father's Day was always a little rough on Castle, and even though he loved his baby girl, he'd asked Lanie to baby-sit so he and Kate could make their now-traditional pilgrimage to the Richard Rodgers Theater. They'd celebrate with Nicole and Alexis tonight.

"Oh, she had so much fun." Castle said. "So much, in fact, that when I went to pick her up, she asked if she was getting another sleep over." Castle swooped in and tickled Nicole's stomach.

"Daddy, no!" Nicole screeched through a reluctant smile.

"Tickle monster says daddy's your favorite!" Castle growled.

"Oh, Castle." Kate grinned as she shook her head. "Leave her alone."

"Mommy!" Nicole cried as she kicked away from Esposito and her dad and ran into Kate's arms.

"Hey _moya_." Kate whispered. "I missed you."

"Me more, Mommy." Nicole said as she tightened her embrace around her mother's neck. Kate willed away the tears in her eyes. She didn't think she'd ever get tired of hearing her baby girl say those words. "So, did you have fun with Auntie Lanie?" Kate asked.

"Yah!" Nicole exclaimed. "We eat macs and see Simba!"

Kate laughed at Esposito and Ryan's confused faces.

"They ate macaroni and cheese and watched "The Lion King." She clarified.

"OOH MOMMY!" Nicole cried. "I give!"

Kate didn't understand that one, but Nicole said it with such sincerity that she figured she was missing something important. She was brought out of her wondering by the feel of sharp tugging on her arm. She looked down and smiled at the sight of her daughter holding up her bumblebee backpack.

"Mommy open?" she asked.

Kate unzipped and unbuckled the backpack and Nicole dove in heartily, clearly searching for something of extreme value. Kate had to bite back a laugh at Nicole's triumphant smirk when she found her prize. Wow, that kid was her daughter…

"Lane help me." Nicole said as she held out a drawing to her mom. Kate was about to take it when Nicole stepped close to her ear. "It daddy present." She whispered.

Kate could've died. Lanie knew how hard the holiday could be, and she'd helped Nicole make a Father's Day present for Rick. She bent in close to her daughter.

"Is it a surprise?" Kate asked.

"Yah!" Nicole exclaimed. Kate wasn't sure if Nicole understood that just because she was speaking into her ear, it didn't mean that Rick couldn't hear her if she spoke loudly.

"What are you two conspiring about?" Rick asked suspiciously as he sat down on the floor by his girls.

Nicole jumped up and ran behind Kate for cover so she could hide the picture.

"You sure you want to know, Castle?" asked Ryan. He and his partner moved over to join the trio. "The last time Liz and Jenny conspired, I wound up covered in syrup…"

"That was your fault, bro." Esposito said. "Jenny made the pancakes and _you_ were the one who said Liz could pour the syrup."

Ryan blushed and the group shared a loving laugh at the detective.

"Oh, I think I'm brave enough to handle whatever Nik throws at me." Castle said. Kate rolled her eyes, but chose not to comment.

"It's okay, Nik." Kate encouraged. "Go ahead."

Nicole slowly appeared from behind her mother and looked at her father with shy eyes that she certainly inherited from him.

"What's that, sweetheart?" Rick asked, gesturing to the paper in Nicole's hands.

"Lane help me." She repeated to her dad. "She say it nice for me to make you a present today."

Rick met Kate's eyes over their daughter's head. Kate could tell he was barely keeping it together.

"Can I see it?" Rick asked sweetly. Nicole held out the drawing and Rick took it from her gingerly, hoping not to damage it anymore than her backpack had already. He gazed down lovingly and saw…what? He honestly didn't get it, but he didn't want to ask Nicole because she got very offended last time he didn't know what one of her drawings was of. Esposito decided to take one for the team.

"Mami, can you explain it for Kevin and me?" he asked. Nicole pursed her lips in an eerie copy of her mother, but she consented.

"It daddy." She said simply.

Rick looked at the drawing again and then back up to Kate. He turned it around for her to see, hoping she could make sense out of it. What he didn't expect was for Kate to fall over laughing so hard he could see the tears in her eyes.

"What is so funny?" he asked, slightly indignant.

"Castle, you don't get it?" Kate asked breathily. Nicole turned the picture back around to her dad.

"It daddy." She said insistently. At Rick's blank gaze, she continued. "Lane tell me stories. She say you are mommy's…" she paused trying to get the words right, "…wri-ter-mon-key…writer-monkey!"

Rick's jaw hit the floor and Kate fell over again, letting out a less than attractive squawk at her husband's face. He got it now. A brown creature with stick arms and legs clung to a tall purple stick (which he now assumed was a tree). Its giant eyes gazed up at him as the monkey held out a fat number two pencil (clearly Lanie's work). On the side was a stick-figure woman with long brown hair (probably Kate) holding a banana (also Lanie's work). Lanie Parish was going to die tomorrow.

Ignoring the ever-amused faces of his friends, Rick held the drawing to his heart and reached out to cup his daughter's cheek.

"I love it, darling, thank you."

Nicole smiled. The ten-watt smile he loved seeing on her mother. He didn't even bother trying to feel mildly offended.

"Can it go on fridge?" She asked excitedly. Rick opened his mouth to respond, but Kate beat him to it.

"Of course it can!" Kate said. "We'll even put it up with daddy's favorite magnets." Rick glared.

"Yay!" Nicole shouted as she threw her arms around her dad. "Thank you daddy!"

Rick sighed. Not fair.

"Alright munchkin," Kate broke in, "mommy has to finish something up and then we can go home for the special dinner, okay?"

"Okay!" Nicole squealed. The girl's volume was _all_ Rick, Kate decided. She smiled as Nicole ran off to Ryan and Esposito's desk to find the gummies she knew they kept for her.

"Not too many!" Kate reminded, even though she knew it was a lost cause. Shaking her head, she sat back down at her desk and pulled her latest report back in front of her. Rick sat down beside her in his seat, fidgeting a little more than usual.

"Do you think she really sees me like that?" he asked. _Oh Rick…_

"No, Castle," Kate reassured. "she loves you. She loves silly you and she loves protective-chase-away-the-monsters you."

"Really?" he asked, still unsure. He knew Kate once thought of him as immature and ridiculous, but he didn't want to make that sole impression on his daughter.

"Really." Kate said. "Last week when she spilled juice on your manuscript, she begged me not to tell you. Not because she didn't want to be in trouble, but because she said you made her promise not to play around in your office and she felt sad that she didn't listen to you."

Rick smiled.

"That was why she cried for so long when I found out…" He mused. He reached out and grasped Kate's hand in his. "Thank you."

"Always." Kate said softly. They gazed at each other for a moment before another happy squeak from Nicole snapped them back to reality. "You can still kill Lanie, though." Kate smirked.

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Yes this is my second father's day fic. Yes there will probably be more. I have a lot of feelings! Drop me a line and let me know if you liked it! 3


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